Is Your Farmed Fish From Prison?

With more than 7 correctional facilities in the Cañon City, CO area, it may not be surprising that innovation is finding its way into rehabilitation programs for area inmates. But fishing may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of prison programs — especially in the high desert region of the southwest, even though the Colorado River runs through the town.

But fishing it is for inmates — fish farms, that is. The Department of Corrections began its food production program in 2001, focusing their aquaculture division on the African tilapia (which has become quite a popular fish due in part to distributors and wholesalers who offer regular promotions on Tilapia products that they source from the DOC). Prisoners also raise koi and even goldfish.

Growing from 12,000 square feet to nearly 100,000 since the program began, Colorado’s Department of Corrections plans to quadruple the size of the processing plant in the coming years. Part of Colorado Correction Industries, which includes farming, dairies, greenhouses and beekeeping, more than 800 inmates are employed in the program.

Whole Foods Market, the nation’s largest natural food chain, who just announced a humane farming rating program for its meat products, is one of the largest customers of the Department of Corrections, purchasing thousands of pounds of prison farmed tilapia raised and processed by inmates serving sentences as serious as life in prison for murder. Wages and bonus incentives motivate the prisoners, as do the longer shifts when available, which some see as catharsis for dealing with the severity of their crimes and their sentences.

Jill Ettinger is a Los Angeles-based journalist and editor focused on the global food system and how it intersects with our cultural traditions, diet preferences, health, and politics. She is the senior editor for sister websites OrganicAuthority.com and EcoSalon.com, and works as a research associate and editor with the Cornucopia Institute, the organic industry watchdog group. Jill has been featured in The Huffington Post, MTV, Reality Sandwich, and Eat Drink Better. www.jillettinger.com.

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